8) Griffith Observatory’s Tesla Coil, Los Angeles
You may be familiar with Griffith Park in Los Angeles, home of the famous Hollywood sign. What you may not know about is the mesmerizing Telsa Coil in the park’s observatory. It’s lightening, which discharges about once an hour, thrills both tourists and locals alike. The newly designed alcove it’s housed in only adds to its wow factor, as its giant arcs and zapping noises thrill all who observe them. This coil was once owned by Dr. Fredrick Finch Strong, who, was an electrotherapeutics experimenter, theosophist and physician. Finch Strong was enthralled with Tesla’s 1893 explanation of alternating currents and began his own experiments from that inspiration. He went on to author a book in 1903 detailing the effects of high frequency currents being therapeutic vibrations. The coil has been on display at the observatory since his 1937 donation to the park, and is free during regular observatory hours.
